Dumb It Down
by Haiku Kitten
Summary: When his cognitive abilities increase beyond his control, Brainiac 5 finds himself struggling to deal. Invisible Kid worries when his friend turns to drugs as an escape. B5/IK
1. Tip of the Ice Burg

**Dumb It Down**

By: Haiku

Fandom: Legion of Super-Heroes, Reboot

Characters: Brainiac 5, Ensemble

Pairings: Eventually Invisible Kid/Brainiac 5

Rating: M, for drug abuse, disturbing themes, suicidal thoughts, and possibly even some sex. Not in this chapter, though.

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 1**

**Tip of the Ice Burg**

_I'm just a man in the middle_

_Of a complicated plan_

_No one to show me the signs_

_I'm just a creature of habit_

_In a complicated world_

_Nowhere to run to_

_Nowhere to hide_

_- Man in the Middle, The Bee Gees_

"I think the explanation is clear, Invisible Kid. It lies within the very definition of our two variables." Brainiac 5 tapped his clipboard impatiently as he walked alongside Invisible Kid down the hallway to the mess hall. "If we switched the two around and reduced the energy input, it should work. In theory, of course, but I would be hesitant to actually go through with such a plan unless I had the proper equipment."

Lyle arched an eyebrow at him, seeming unimpressed. "I think you're over thinking it, Brainy. Leave the variables in place and think about the experiment as a whole. You have to see the bigger picture to really comprehend the potential of something on this scale; you know what I'm saying?"

The Coluan's brow furrowed. "Of course I see the potential; I'm just saying that we could fine tune its abilities if we made the structure more precise."

They'd reached the mess hall by now and Lyle made a beeline for the soft drinks. "Precise? But that's like worrying about getting your entire piece of toast to turn the exact same shade of brown before you decide you're finished "fine tuning" the toaster. My stance is that it won't hurt anything if it doesn't all come out the same shade of brown – you follow me?"

Querl hung back a little while Lyle poured himself a drink. "Sure, I can concede that there is indeed nothing wrong with multiple shades of brown," he muttered a little reluctantly. Lyle's logic was sound, after all, and it wasn't like they were likely to blow something up if the coordinates weren't exact – well, not _too _likely, anyway. "Say we were to present this to the United Planets as a new discovery, though, and all the bugs weren't worked out..."

"Whoa, whoa, present it to the United Planets? Aren't you getting the cart before the horse?" Lyle turned back to him with a grin, shaking his head. "You know your problem? You think everything's gotta be the next big thing. Just relax and have fun for a change, okay?" He reached out with his free hand and lightly tapped Querl's nose. "Okay, seriously, I have to chill for a bit."

He moved past Querl to the counter, where some of the other Legionnaires were gathered, idly chatting. Querl remained where he was, watching his colleague go, nearly taking a step forward to follow him before stopping himself. He was never sure, in situations like this, what he was supposed to do. It wasn't like the others would appreciate him dropping in on their conversation. Lyle, on the other hand, was welcome amongst them. Lyle was good at blending in, like a chameleon, and sometimes Querl couldn't help but envy him.

"... I am having fun," he grumbled to himself before turning to the drink fountain himself. Somewhat sullenly, he poured himself a cup of coffee. He needed the caffeine – honestly, he hadn't actually slept in three days and he felt like he was on the verge of a crash. This project he and Lyle were working on had consumed his attention lately.

Distantly, he could hear snatches of the conversation on the other side of the room. Lyle had joined the fray and Querl could hear him the clearest, since he didn't mumble or mispronounce his words like many of the others were prone to do.

"Honestly, he's gotten worse the past few weeks," Lyle was saying to them. Querl stiffened slightly but kept his back turned. "You know, it's like... all he can think about is making some groundbreaking discovery. He's made them, don't get me wrong, I just... I'd like to talk to him about something besides the internal workings of nanotechnology sometimes."

Querl's lips pressed into a thin line. It wasn't like it was news to him – Lyle had said it to his face a few times – but he didn't like it when Lyle talked about him to the others. They didn't like him and never had, which Querl supposed was fair enough. But it was hard enough to cooperate with them without their dislike for him being encouraged.

"Lyle, you're so patient with him," Spark gushed, causing Querl's eye to twitch. "I don't know how you do it sometimes."

There it was – that unpleasant pang in his chest. As much as he would like to pretend that he didn't care what they thought, sometimes it was uncomfortable to listen to their... _criticisms _of him. He didn't really trust any of them but there were a few – like Spark, who called herself his friend – that it hurt a little more from.

Lyle laughed at that. "Oh, you just have to know how to talk to him. Usually he's not too insufferable."

"Nass," Querl hissed under his breath viciously, despite his own opposition to pointless swearing. He took a drink of coffee without thinking about it and the hot liquid seared his mouth, causing him to exclaim loudly and drop his cup on the floor, the contents spilling out.

The talking on the other side of the room stopped and Querl glanced at them to find that they were all staring at him, most shocked. His bottom lip trembled ever so slightly as he tried to match their stares.

His resolve quickly failed him and he ducked down to grab up his cup. "Burned my mouth," he explained quietly. He glanced at Lyle and scowled. "... I'll be in the lab, when you're done "chilling"," he muttered before tossing the cup in the trash and high tailing it out of the mess hall.

He hated for them to stare at him. Their expressions were always so critical and disapproving – he could practically hear what they were thinking. They wondered what his deal was. They wondered why he was still so awkward and socially inept, even after so long. His ability to cope with them all was decreasing daily.

As he passed one of the glass counter tops in his laboratory, he paused to glance at his reflection. The metal disks on his face glinted back at him almost maliciously and he absently reached up to touch one. In truth, he hated the damn things. They made him feel like some piece of machinery to be modified when it wasn't working appropriately – they all probably thought of him as just that anyway. Disgusted, he looked away and turned his attention to the project he and Lyle had previously been working on.

Lyle had insisted that he not switch the variables but he'd already calculated the success rate and the appropriate steps to take from there. If he didn't go ahead and work his calculations out, he knew it would drive him crazy, so he set about reconstructing the experiment meticulously. It was extremely delicate work and required intense concentration. Before long, he'd pushed all thoughts of Lyle and the others to the back of his mind and let his attention become solely occupied with his work.

It could have been minutes or hours later when his concentration was interrupted by the sound of the lab doors opening. He recognized Lyle by the weight of his footsteps as the other boy approached, stepping close into Querl's personal space.

"Hey, thought I told you not to switch the variables," Lyle chided gently as he peered over Querl's shoulder. "It's just going to take longer if you do it that way and the same end goal could have been reached if you'd left it the way it was."

Querl scowled. "I wanted to be thorough," he replied sourly. "It was logical to make sure all of the bases had been covered, as you would say. Besides, time is irrelevant."

"Maybe it's irrelevant to you, Brainy, but I don't want to be working on the same damn thing for months like you usually do," Lyle groused. "Come on, this isn't just your project. You can't just leave me out like that."

"You're one to talk," Querl muttered without really thinking about it before he said it. He froze for a moment when he realized he'd spoken it out loud. "You can build yourself another one, if you want," he said, finally turning to Lyle. "We can see whose finished product is the most efficient."

The human's eyes narrowed at him. "What? Brainy, this is something we're both doing together, not a competition. You know, if you can't deal with me interjecting from time to time, maybe we shouldn't be working together at all. You obviously don't consider me an intellectual equal if you're okay with just disregarding my opinion."

"You can't be serious," Querl scoffed, mostly because he was too shocked to respond calmly. "I never proposed a competition and I never implied that I doubted your intellectual abilities. The fact of the matter is that my theory will result in a better machine than yours."

"Stop that!" Lyle exclaimed abruptly, his tone making Querl pause and frown at him in confusion.

"You can't know that," the brunet insisted, throwing his hands up in the air. "Don't even try to pretend that you can work the whole thing out in your head in the span of 24 hours and actually reach the exact sprocking coordinates!"

Taken aback, Querl blinked at him. "But I can," he replied flatly. "It makes perfect sense. Look, I'll show you." He grabbed a notepad and started to sketch out a diagram of the machine. "You see, if we just move this to this and -"

Lyle suddenly grabbed the pad away from him. "No, I don't care, stop it! You keep doing this! I don't even know why you want me around lately. You can obviously do all of this by yourself!"

"Lyle!" Querl grabbed for the notepad, only to have to snatched out of his reach. "Look, you're being childish. I think you should at least let me explain my theory in full before you get so defensive about it and you'll understand that it's clearly the best choice of action."

He was completely unprepared when the notepad smacked him sharply across the face. Surprised, he stumbled back a few steps. "Lyle, what the sprock-"

"That's it, I'm finished!" Lyle threw the notepad down on the ground. "I'm sick of you and how you never think about anything but discovery _this_ and experiment _that_. I can't do this anymore!" He turned on his heel and stormed out of the lab, leaving Brainy to stand and stare after him, a hand pressed against his smarting cheek.

The data was still running through his head. On impulse, he grabbed the notepad up again. Maybe if he went ahead and sketched it out, he could show it to Lyle later when he'd calmed down. His hands moved almost of their own free will, precisely detailing his theory onto the paper, and even as he sketched down his current ideas, the rest of the machine seemed to spread out clearly before his eyes. It was a beautiful model, in fact, and excitement thrummed through the Coluan's veins as he added the finer details. Lyle would understand, he was sure, when he saw how brilliant this machine really was. It could be capable of even more than they had originally thought and-

He paused suddenly, realizing that he'd run out of space on the notepad without noticing and had started drawing the plans on his workspace counter. How had that even happened? It was the kind of thing one should notice. Maybe Lyle was right – maybe he'd really let himself become too consumed in his work lately. Absently, he started to draw on his workspace again.

This time, when he caught himself, he noticed that he'd worked out a series of diagrams – formulas to try and explain Lyle's actions towards him and his own feelings of betrayal and hurt over the whole thing, written in mathematical form and yet somehow intelligible. Probably nothing but scribbles to the others but to him, they made perfect sense. This was exactly how the entire situation had unfolded, in numerical form. It was brilliant, it was – Sprock, it was crazy, you couldn't compute feelings.

No, he told himself, pressing a hand to his head. This was completely cracked. There was something wrong with him – there had to be because the data was still swimming right in front of his mind. Sprock, it wouldn't stop. His hands gripped the edge of the counter and he clenched his eyes shut. "Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it," he chanted desperately. But this could be a breakthrough, it would change the way people dealt with each other permanently if they understood these formulas and-

"No!" he exclaimed before slamming his head against the counter. The pain, surprisingly, slowed the flow of data for a few minutes but not enough. He had to stop thinking about it. It was possible, it definitely was. After all, he had twelve tracks of consciousness and he was accustomed to being able to switch back and forth between them at his discretion. But this... it was like all twelve tracks were being used at once for the same avenue of inquiry and he couldn't _stop it_.

Fear gripped him. What was wrong? He'd never had a malfunction like this. Sure, he'd been much more focused lately and had difficulty sleeping on occasion as a result but it had never been on _this _scale before. He probably needed help. But Lyle had left and he wasn't sure he could make it out of the lab to call for help.

His fingers twitched and his hand jerked as he fought to keep from grabbing up the pen again. No, he wasn't going to let whatever force was controlling his body get the upper hand! He had to... do something!

With a frustrated cry, he slammed his head against the counter again; and then again when it didn't work that time either. Finally, after the fourth attempt, he felt his consciousness fading as he slumped to the floor and his vision faded to black.

–

When he came back to himself, his head was throbbing. He felt cool tile against his cheek and when he opened his eyes, his somewhat fuzzy vision revealed that he was lying on the floor of his laboratory. Locating the clock, he noticed that he had probably been unconscious for about three hours. He wasn't positive – he couldn't be sure because he didn't know how long that... _attack_... had lasted.

A hollow feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Three hours since Lyle had stormed out on him and no one had noticed that something was wrong. No one had stopped by to check on him or ask him to fix something – nothing. Not that he blamed them. He was always telling them to stay out of his workspace, after all, and they knew him well enough by now to actually obey that rule. Or maybe they all just disliked him so much that even getting their hand held games repaired wasn't worth suffering his presence.

Slowly, he started to push himself up off the floor. He felt dizzy, which wasn't a good sign, and by the time he'd made it to his feet, his knees gave out and he found himself on the floor again, violently vomiting up what little he'd had in his stomach to begin with. It was mostly stomach acid, he realized.

He probably had a concussion, which meant he needed to get to med bay and have Dr. Gym'll check him out.

Shakily, he raised his ring finger to his mouth. "Brainiac 5 to med bay," he spoke into his, trying to keep his voice steady, "requesting assistance in traveling from my laboratory to med bay. Possible concussion and feelings of disorientation."

"Brainiac, what did you do this time?" Dr. Gym'll's voice demanded disapprovingly. "A concussion? How did you do that?"

"Slipped and fell," Querl replied absently. He groaned softly because his tracks of consciousness were once again focusing on the earlier equations. Couldn't he get a break? Even someone with a twelfth level intelligence needed to just think about _nothing _for a while.

"I'll send someone up," Dr. Gym'll replied. "Don't move around too much, you don't want to make it worse. Best if you sit in one spot until help gets there."

Querl hummed in agreement and shifted himself away from the puddle of vomit. The stench was making him feel nauseous – well, more so than he already did. "I'm not going anywhere, Doctor," he replied. He probably couldn't even if he'd wanted to, truth be told.

A few moments later, the door to the lab slid open and Livewire and Timber Wolf let themselves in, Timber Wolf pushing a wheelchair. Livewire did a double take when he caught sight of the massive bruises mottling Querl's forehead. "Grife, Brainy, how many times did you fall?" he asked, astounded. "And how, exactly, are you still conscious?"

"I was unconscious for some time," Querl replied, tracing equations on the floor with his finger. "Does it look bad?"

"It looks like someone beat you in the head with a sledgehammer," the Winathian replied honestly as he gripped Querl by the shoulders and hoisted him up into the wheelchair. He spied the vomit on the floor and frowned. "Did you throw up?"

"Common effect of concussions," Querl said with a shrug. "I'll clean it up later. Right now I can't really walk by myself."

Garth shook his head disapprovingly. "I swear, for a smart guy, you can be incredibly stupid sometimes. I don't know what you were doing but I recommend you don't do it again anytime soon. That looks like it hurts."

"Affirmative," the Coluan muttered with a grimace. "On the bright side, I now know that the particles in my experiment were improperly aligned but I remedied that problem by switching the two variables, against Invisible Kid's advice. Admittedly, it did lead to other problems but following that train of thought, I simply calculated the pulse waves and designed the entire engine with a much more energy efficient core."

"Whoa, really don't think you should be talking that much," Timber Wolf interjected, patting Querl's shoulder. "Don't worry; it went right over our heads anyway. How about we get you to med bay?"

Querl sighed and stopped talking. The two of them really weren't capable of understanding things on the same level as he did. No one was. The only person who even came close was Lyle. "Have either of you seen Invisible Kid?" he questioned as he was pushed down the hall. "I'm afraid he left my lab in a state of distress a few hours ago and I'm not sure why he was so distraught. I suspect it was my fault."

"I haven't seen him but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're probably right about that," Livewire replied with an arched eyebrow. "I wouldn't worry about Lyle. Unless he's the one that took the sledgehammer to your head, which wouldn't really surprise me."

This made Querl frown. "He usually doesn't seem to mind my faults," he remarked, unable to let the thought go. "If it's about switching the variables in our experiment, I don't see why he's so worked up. It's a joint project, yes, but it only makes sense to follow the plan I've detailed. He smacked me with a notepad."

Garth's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "A _notepad_?" he asked, incredulously. "He must have hit you really sprocking hard with it."

"That's not what gave me a concussion," Querl growled in frustration. "Forget I said anything. Obviously this is getting me nowhere."

"Easy, there, smarty britches," Garth warned, putting his hands on his hips. "No need to get your panties into a twist, I'm sure Lyle's just... on his period or something. Like you seem to perpetually be."

The Coluan gave him a look of disgust. "That is both disturbing and scientifically impossible. Neither my species nor Lyle's is one in which the male experiences a menstrual cycle; which, by the way, is not all that funny to joke about."

Garth sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. Just relax, will you?"

"Relax?" Querl echoed. He hadn't relaxed in _months_ now. He'd been a constant state of tension and his mind had been consumed with one invention or another almost every waking hour of the day. There was so much to know, so much to discover, and it was like he had access to everything if he just opened his mind up to the possibilities. Wouldn't it be a waste to relax when he could be accomplishing so much?

"Yes, relax!" Garth exclaimed. "Just... chill out, okay? The universe is not going to explode or something just because you decide to take a break from being an asshole!"

Querl didn't reply to that but his shoulders slumped. Maybe Garth was right and everyone else was fine without him and his attitude but... He wanted to believe that he was important; that he had a purpose. The Legionnaires were the ones who had shown him that he didn't have to be a lab rat – some kind of experiment – for other people to gawk at. Was it so bad that he wanted to do something good with himself now?

Livewire and Timber Wolf seemed too eager to be rid of him by the time they'd reached the medical bay. Querl tried to convince himself that it didn't bother him while Dr. Gym'll prodded a little less than gently at the bruises on his head. "Stop pouting," the doctor snapped at him, slapping his cheek lightly. "Look at me, Brainiac. Are you going to explain this injury to me?"

"I told you that I fell," the Coluan replied sullenly, rubbing his cheek. That was the second time today he'd been smacked. It was getting old. "I tripped over a tool that had fallen in the floor and I hit my head on the counter."

"Don't insult my intelligence!" The doctor shook his finger at Querl disapprovingly. "This looks more like you _slammed _your head against that counter _repeatedly_. Tell me you didn't do that."

There was a note of genuine concern in the doctor's tone and Querl grimaced. He sensed a visit to the counselor was probably imminent. "I didn't," he insisted. "Why would I do that?"

The doctor gave him a severe look for a moment but finally shrugged his shoulders. "You're going to have to stay in here for a while so I can monitor you. Lie back and try to relax – I'm going to give you something for the pain so you can rest and try to recover."

Querl took a deep breath and laid back as Dr. Gym'll injected the painkiller into his arm. It acted quickly and he could feel the pain steadily ebbing, being replaced by a pleasant fuzzy warmth. Slowly, all twelve tracks of his consciousness began to shut down and all the thoughts he couldn't escape finally drifted away.

"I haven't slept in three days," he murmured to the doctor as he started to drift off. "What is this stuff? It's really... nice..." Finally, he let go and allowed himself to drift off into a deep, resting sleep.

TBC


	2. Off Center

**Dumb It Down**

By: Haiku

Fandom: Legion of Super-Heroes, Reboot

Characters: Brainiac 5, Ensemble

Pairings: Eventually Invisible Kid/Brainiac 5 (more pairings may develop)

Rating: M, for drug abuse, disturbing themes, suicidal thoughts, and sex in later chapters.

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 2**

**Off Center**

_Just as I thought_

_It was going alright_

_Find out I'm wrong_

_When I thought I was right_

_Always the same, it's just a shame, that's all_

_- That's All, Genesis_

Querl woke some time later to the sound of voices near his bed engaged in what seemed to be a debate. He couldn't really follow the conversation, merely hearing his nickname and title tossed back and forth while all the other words slipped through the cracks. It was kind of nice to just hear voices without analyzing the subject matter of the conversation or anything like that. He relaxed against his pillow and just listened to the sounds.

Footsteps approached his bed after a while and he opened his eyes to peer lazily up at his visitor. Lyle's worried face looked down at him. Querl felt the mattress sink as Lyle sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey," the human murmured with a tender smile. "Livewire told me you messed yourself up pretty bad. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling well, actually," Querl admitted. "I can't feel it. I can't feel anything." What was that painkiller that Dr. Gym'll had given him? It was absolutely delightful. "Are you still upset with me?" Although it really didn't seem like such a big deal to him anymore, so long as Lyle was here now and the good feeling stayed.

Lyle's expression crumpled and he hesitantly lifted his hand to brush Querl's curls back from the ugly bruising on his forehead. Querl was confused by the act but couldn't resist the urge to shift into the comforting touch. "Don't be upset," the Coluan mumbled. "I made it for you."

"Grife, Brainy," Lyle whispered, his voice thick with some sort of emotion. His fingers buried themselves in Querl's hair. "I'm not mad at you. I've had time to get it out of my system. I'm sorry I hit you."

The tone of Lyle's voice eased Querl. He'd never felt so at peace as he did in this moment and he gazed up at Lyle adoringly, enjoying the other boy's attentions. He noticed things about Lyle for what seemed like the first time – like the way Lyle's lips moved when he talked. "Don't worry about it," he replied with a sigh.

"Okay," Lyle replied, his voice a little strained. "... Brainy, you didn't do this to yourself, did you? Please... just tell me, alright? I just want to make sure that you're going to be okay."

Querl considered telling Lyle the truth but he wondered if Lyle would understand. It wasn't like he'd done this to himself because he wanted to. There had been no other way to get his mind to stop. Thankfully, his mind was operating rather slowly at the moment. Everything was peaceful and quiet up there. The thought made him chuckle.

"Invisible Kid, I did not hurt myself on purpose," he stated, which technically wasn't a lie. "I just fell and hit my head on the counter. It's okay." He reached up and touched Lyle's hand gently. The other boy's fingers tensed in his hair but he didn't pull away. "Thanks for coming to see me," Querl murmured without thinking about it.

Lyle made a strange noise in his throat. "You're... You're welcome," he whispered back. "What are friends for?"

* * *

It was some time later, after the drugs had knocked Brainy out once again, when Lyle finally made his way to the laboratory to survey the damage done. Brainy hadn't mentioned the lab getting messed up but Lyle was always suspicious when Brainy had any sort of accident. Usually, they were of the spectacularly explosive variety and a lot of money and time went into the repairs. Since it was pretty much pointless to try and get Brainy to own up to his actions, everyone expected Lyle to sort things out. It was times like these that he regretted affiliating himself with the errant Coluan.

To his surprise, the lab was hardly damaged at all. Aside from a puddle of vomit in the floor, there didn't seem to be anything out of place. Lyle carefully stepped over the vomit and over to the counter, frowning as he came across the notebook he'd smacked Brainy with. Scribbled on it in no apparent order were what looked to be the blueprints for the machine they'd been building. However, Lyle had never seen Brainy make such a mess out of his calculations before. Usually they were neat and orderly but these were all over the place.

Glancing at the counter, he noticed that the glass was covered in black marker as well, continuing the plans for the machine before the marks trailed into something else entirely that Lyle could not even begin to interpret. It was suspicious, to say the least. It was like free writing, Brainiac style; except that Brainy didn't free write and Lyle doubted he'd draw on his counter on purpose.

There was a slightly bloody spot on the edge of the counter where Brainy must have hit his head. Had it really been an accident? He couldn't think of any reason why Brainy would purposefully try to hurt himself but the doctor had insisted that the wound could not have been accidental. He'd actually stated that it looked like Brainy had struck his head three or four times with a lot of force.

Lyle leaned heavily against the counter, feeling a little sick. Something was wrong with his best friend and he had no idea how to deal with it. Brainy wasn't likely to cooperate, given that he'd already denied causing the damage himself.

Feeling faint, he cleaned up the laboratory but left the equations. He wanted to know what they were, so for now he didn't wipe them off, deciding to run them through a computer later on. With the lab back in order, he made his way to the cafeteria for a drink.

As soon as he sat down at a table, Spark sat down in the chair opposite him, staring him in the eyes firmly. "I want the details," she told him bluntly. "My brother said he hauled Brainy to the medical bay. Something about a concussion."

"That's all there is to it," Lyle replied calmly, sipping at his coffee. "He slipped and hit his head on the counter in his lab but Dr. Gym'll patched him up and he's resting in med-bay. Doctor says he didn't do any real damage."

He remembered the conversation he'd had with Spark earlier and felt a pang of guilt. Brainy had heard them talking and they both knew it. It had been painfully obvious and he should have gone to Brainy and apologized for talking about him behind his back but he'd been thinking that everyone needed to vent now and then and Spark was always a good listener.

Spark narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "There's more to it, Kid. Isn't there?"

"No, there isn't," the human muttered stubbornly. "Anyway, it's Brainy's business and I shouldn't be telling it to everybody. He's fine. That's what's important. And if anything else comes up, I'm sure you'll hear it through the grapevine."

"He's my friend too," she said, determined. "I'm worried about him."

"Why?" Lyle questioned with a frown. "He's always doing this, Spark. At least he didn't blow the place up this time. He just hit his head and he's going to be fine. If there's more to it than that, I don't know it, and it's not my place or your place to make assumptions about it." Somehow, the coffee tasted awful now. He sat the cup down, gazing at it disdainfully.

These words seemed to placate Spark. She managed a strained smile. "I'm sorry, Kid. Just... tell me if anything comes up, okay? I want to help, if I can."

Lyle didn't really trust Spark with important information. She was a fence straddler – she changed sides a lot. Then again, she almost always stuck up for Brainy when other people talked trash about him and supposedly Brainy had seen fit to confide in her on a few occasions. She knew, better than most people, why Brainy was so difficult to deal with and this helped her accept his faults.

"I'll let you know," he agreed finally, defeated. "Just keep it to yourself. Don't tell your brother; don't tell anyone else. You know how it is."

Spark nodded and in that moment they reached an understanding. Whatever was going on with Brainiac 5, it was their job to keep him safe from the others. Lyle reached his hand across the table to Ayla and she shook it firmly. "We'll figure this out," she promised.

* * *

Querl mostly slept for the next two days. He woke occasionally, usually to find Lyle by his side, and each time he saw the human's face, it produced a warm and fuzzy feeling. Lyle was always happy to fetch him a glass of water and help him hold it as he drank. Whatever Querl asked for, Lyle was eager to provide without asking questions.

He felt safe, cocooned in sleepiness, and had no desire to truly wake up and return to his usual routine. There was no sense of urgency pushing him to waking, only numb relaxation and the doting attention of his favorite person. It couldn't be a more ideal situation.

Then Dr. Gym'll turned off the pain killer, saying that the pain should be manageable now and he didn't want Querl to become dependent on the drug. Querl felt the loss immediately as all his subdued thoughts came rushing back to him, overwhelming him to the point that all he could do for another two days was lie limply in the bed, barely responsive. Once again, Lyle was at his side but Querl could not bring himself to care.

"You need to get up soon," Lyle scolded him as he tried to coax Querl to eat something. Querl gazed at him impassively. "Brainy, please," the human begged, looking as tired as Querl felt. But his voice was like sandpaper, rubbing Querl's patience thin and making his headache that much worse. Querl turned his gaze to the opposite wall.

Lyle's hand touched his shoulder and Querl shrugged it off angrily, gritting his teeth. "Sprock, just shut up!" he exclaimed suddenly, uncharacteristically using swear words to express his frustration. He lurched up in the hospital bed and swung his legs over the side, trying not to let it show on his face that the action made him dizzy and sick to his stomach.

"Brainy, wait," Lyle started to say, looking hurt and worried at the same time, but Querl didn't give him time to say another word before he stormed out of the med-bay. Lyle wanted him back in the lab, so that was where he would be. That was where everyone wanted him; where the whole universe had always wanted him, so he couldn't blow up anything more than himself and his lab equipment.

Despite his determination, Querl found that making it all the way to the laboratory was difficult. His head was pounding now, a slow, steady ache. The pain was as far from manageable as one could get. He feared that he would pass out in the hallway before he ever got to his destination but he somehow made it to the lab without incident, his expression closed and cold so that no one he passed could tell anything was amiss.

As the doors of the lab closed behind him, his resolve failed and he crumpled to the floor, pressing his forehead against the cool tile as a low whine escaped him. He allowed himself a few moments like that to try and center himself before resolutely forcing himself back onto his feet.

He sighed in relief when he sank down onto his cushioned computer chair and rolled it over to his monitors. It was time for an experiment, he decided. There had to be a limit to just how overboard his mind could go in one day. If he wore himself out, maybe the exhaustion would be enough to give him a little peace. He clicked open a word program and began to type.

Never before had he been so completely focused on his work. The other Legionnaires had complained before that he shut everything else out when he was working but this was completely different. It was as though the rest of the world did not exist; only the characters steadily filling up the pages of the document. At some point, he stopped even worrying what the equations were for. It was like he was channeling them more than actually thinking them up himself. His fingers moved easily across the keys while his mind churned out an unending flow of data.

Hours later, he felt the flow of information slowly ebbing. His hands fell away from the computer and he leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It felt like all of his energy had been completely drained and his fingers were cramping badly. At some point, he had also started to sweat and now his hair was plastered to his head. If anyone saw him like this, they would ask questions. Well, Lyle would, at any rate. And he would probably be poking his head in before long to make sure Querl was alright. It had been a while since he'd seen the boy.

So Querl forced himself to the lab's adjoining shower and washed away the sweat and donned a fresh uniform. He watched his reflection in the mirror intently as he carefully combed his hair. The dark circles under his eyes were prominent but it wasn't anything unusual for him. No one was likely to notice how haggard his face looked or the subtle way his hands trembled. He reached up and touched the metal disks, the pads of his fingers barely skimming them. There was no visible damage that he could see, even after having slammed his head against a counter. He wondered if they were malfunctioning.

Wandering back into his lab, he looked around and was struck profoundly by a sense of emptiness. There was no one in here but him. Lyle hadn't come by all day. No one had come by. For a moment, the thought was painful in a way Querl was unaccustomed to. Shouldn't he be used to no one coming by? It had always been like this. He hadn't liked them interrupting his work when he first joined. There was no reason to feel sad about it now.

Nonetheless, the laboratory suddenly reminded him viciously of the white, sterile room he'd lived in throughout his childhood. He resisted the urge to look around for observation windows posing as mirrors and shook his head when he briefly wondered if the doors were locked. Of course they weren't. He could walk out of them any time he wanted to. He could leave this _planet _any time he wanted to.

But he didn't. He gave the doors a suspicious look and then he went back to his keyboard to analyze the messy pages of data he'd created and wonder if Lyle was ever going to come by.

* * *

Lyle had always been fond of Brainy but he could remember when his feelings toward the other boy became something more. He'd sort of taken Brainy for granted before. Even though there had been the occasional scare, he'd never truly understood how easy it was to lose people in this line of work. Then they had lost people – really lost them – and Lyle had thought they were all dead. He'd thought Brainy was dead.

The grief had been unexplainable. Everyone was sad, of course. It was so bad that the Legion had disbanded (sort of). It wasn't surprising that he was sad. It was that it hurt so damn much to think he would never see Brainy again. He'd found himself wondering if saving the universe had really been that important after all. It didn't seem worth it to save anything after that.

The others had snapped him out of it, of course. R.J. Brande had built the Legion planet and Lyle had remembered, looking at that magnificent achievement, what the Legion was all about. Some part of him, though, still ached ferociously and he had thought it would never stop.

But then Brainy had come back. And he'd been happy and healthy, even though he'd obviously been through hell, and Lyle could tell that Brainy had come back from the brink with a new determination. He'd never seen Brainy smile at anyone like that before and the fact that _he _was the one Brainy was smiling at was just... overwhelming.

Things had gotten so much better between them after that. They hardly ever fought and Brainy, though still his typical, bossy self, was much more willing to drop an experiment to go out for a walk or get a meal in the cafeteria. Lyle, in return, spent more time in the lab with Brainy. He'd always liked to watch the Coluan work – now it fascinated him more than ever to witness Brainy at his best.

Months had gone by like that and Lyle had been thinking that maybe things would stay that way. They weren't dating – Brainy was probably clueless about things like that – but Lyle hadn't felt the need to push things. They'd go that way eventually, he thought.

Of course, he should have known that nothing was ever that easy with Brainy. Sure, they generally had a good time together now but Brainy wasn't... all there lately. To be fair, Lyle had sensed the worrisome change after the incident with Sharn Nux. It had been faint, just a hint of distance between them, but Lyle should have pressed the matter then. He should have made sure Brainy was really okay.

Most Legionnaires avoided Brainy, whether it was really fair or not. Brainy had a history of being completely unreasonable, so there were only a few people who could stand him, and a few more who respected him, whether or not they liked him. The honest truth was that Brainy had never gone out of his way to make friends – the friends he did have had come to him themselves. Lyle sometimes wondered if Brainy felt out of place in the Legion, knowing that most people avoided him like the plague.

Lyle just wasn't sure what to do. Before this latest incident, Brainy hadn't really shown any signs of being in distress. Maybe he was too clingy, too obsessive with his experiments – and maybe now and then Lyle caught him staring off into space with a strange look on his face – but he'd seemed content, at least.

Dr. Gym'll was saying that wasn't the case. Lyle had argued with him about the matter because he simply could not believe that the Coluan would want to hurt himself. There had to be an explanation for it – maybe something to do with those equations written all over the counter. Whatever the truth was, Lyle couldn't bring himself to face Brainy at the moment. He knew he was going to have to try to get Brainy to talk eventually – he just didn't want to deal with it right now. It was selfish but Lyle needed time to pull himself together.

It was lucky the Legion World was much bigger than their HQ on Earth. It meant there were lots of places to escape to and just by typing something in, he could simulate even more places. Being a city boy from Earth, Lyle was never very familiar with natural beauty, like magnificent mountains or ancient trees. His comfort zone was a city street, with apartment complexes, window shops, and dirty sidewalks. It was just unfortunate that Legion World couldn't simulate the crowds of people he'd liked to watch before, hidden from their eyes, just watching everything they did with intense curiosity.

He curled himself up on a bench in the sun, drawing his knees to the chest. This street was like the one he'd first met his ex-boyfriend, Condo, on. That was a day he could still remember vividly. It was right after he'd thought that Jaques, his childhood friend, had died. He'd been depressed, unable to properly function without his constant companion, and then he'd accidentally bumped into Condo because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Condo had been so warm and friendly from the beginning. His personality had matched Lyle's well so it was no surprise that they'd hooked up shortly after that, even though Condo was older by a few years.

They'd broken up eventually, simply because neither of them could really handle a long distance relationship. It hadn't been a painful breakup – they'd parted ways as friends. Still, Lyle missed Condo a lot. Or maybe he just missed the companionship they'd once shared.

He sighed and rested his head against his knees, closing his eyes. Sometimes even the Legion of Super-Heroes could be lonely.

TBC


	3. Bigger Problems

**Dumb It Down**

By: Haiku

Fandom: Legion of Super-Heroes, Reboot

Characters: Brainiac 5, Ensemble

Pairings: Eventually Invisible Kid/Brainiac 5 (more pairings may develop)

Rating: M, for drug abuse, disturbing themes, suicidal thoughts, and sex in later chapters.

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 3**

**Bigger Problems**

_It's complicated_

_This time I think it could be_

_Triangulated_

_It could be just what we need_

_So, what you say_

_We give it up and walk away?_

_We're overrated anyway._

_- Imogen Heap, "Loose Ends"_

Lyle let himself into the lab without knocking. This was not unusual for him – in fact, it was almost second nature to him now – but he realized when he stepped in that it was going to be a little awkward.

The Coluan that he'd come to check up on glanced from his work only long enough to give Lyle a scathing look before he returned his attention to the machine he was tinkering with. Lyle winced but held his ground. At least, he noted, Brainy looked a lot better than he had. When he'd last seen him, Brainy had been visibly worn down and in pain – pain that Dr. Gym'll couldn't explain. Unfortunately, that had been two days ago and Lyle had a feeling Brainy wasn't happy with him.

"Fancy seeing you here, Lyle," Brainy growled. Yeah, Lyle thought, he was definitely pissed. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me. You wouldn't do that, of course."

"Your sarcasm is noted, but not appreciated," Lyle replied tiredly, running a hand through his hair. "If you'll remember, you were the one who stormed out on me, not the other way around. Maybe I was waiting for an apology."

Brainy's shoulders tensed, but he kept his back turned. "Don't hold your breath," he replied firmly. Lyle could tell that he was trying to keep his tone cold and indifferent, but there was a hint of hurt that Brainy couldn't hide. "I'm busy now," he continued. "If you've come to complain, you can go back out the way you came in."

Perhaps ignoring Brainy for two days had been the wrong approach. Actually, it was inaccurate to call it an "approach" at all. Lyle hadn't been approaching the situation; he'd been avoiding it, just like Brainy had said. Now he had to fix the mistake, if Brainy would have any of it. They hadn't had a fight like this since before Brainy had ended up on the other side of the universe, but Brainy had always had a habit of holding grudges before.

"I didn't come to complain," Lyle placated, approaching his friend slowly and making sure to give Brainy plenty of space. "Honestly, I just wasn't sure what to do. You know I'm worried about you, right?"

Finally, Brainy looked up at him. The bruising still marred his face, dark and purple, but it wasn't as bad as it had been. "Why?" he demanded coldly. "I told you, I'm fine. There's nothing wrong."

Most people wouldn't notice, but Lyle saw the slight tremor in Brainy's hands as they held his tools, and there was a look in Brainy's eyes that Lyle really didn't like. Those bright green orbs looked a little wilder than they should have. Something was not quite right.

"You keep saying that, but I think there's something you're not telling me," Lyle persisted. "Come on, Brainy, you're my best friend. I think I should be able to tell when something is up with you. Are you going to talk?"

Brainy slammed his tools down and turned away from Lyle so fast that his white lab coat flew up a little. He stormed over to the main computer and began furiously typing. "I said there's nothing wrong. I can handle myself; I don't need you babysitting me."

There was just no reasoning with Brainy when he was in a mood. Lyle wasn't sure what to do. Obviously, he'd handled the situation poorly, but it wasn't like he had ignored Brainy without provocation. Brainy had pushed him away first. What was he supposed to do now?

"Hey, Brainy," Lyle followed him, placing his hands on the back of Brainy's chair and leaning down. "I'm sorry, you know? I'm sorry for hitting you and ignoring you – and I'm sorry for talking about you to Spark. What can I do to make it up to you?"

Brainy looked up at him sharply – and his eyes promptly widened when he realized that he'd misjudged how close the human's face was. Lyle himself froze in shock at the proximity. They were so close that their noses were just barely touching. Neither of them moved.

Lyle was the first one to speak. "Brainy," he murmured, considering what his next move should be. Brainy had kissed him once before; just once on the cheek. He'd pondered on the meaning of that kiss for a long time, not sure if Brainy really meant it romantically. But Lyle wanted this – wanted Brainy – and he had a feeling he was going to have to make the first move.

Reaching a decision, he closed the distance between them and captured Brainy's lips with his own. A muffled exclamation of surprise answered him, but Brainy didn't pull away. Lyle kept the kiss chaste, merely caressing Brainy's lips briefly with his own before stepping back. "I'm sorry," he repeated solemnly, looking Brainy in the eyes. "Just... call me when you want me to come back. I know it might be kind of sudden, but I..." He paused, unsure of how to explain. "Well," he finally mumbled, "we can talk about it later, if you want."

Feeling uncomfortably awkward when all Brainy did was gape at him like a dying fish, Lyle sighed and patted his friend's shoulder. "Don't work too hard," he muttered before turning on his heel and fleeing the scene.

* * *

Shock. Querl was in shock. There was no way that Lyle had just... Had Lyle really kissed him just then? Slowly, he raised his fingers to his still tingling lips. He had never expected something like that from his friend. Sure, he'd _thought _about what it would be like to have a relationship with Lyle, but he hadn't let those thoughts go too far. The last thing he wanted was to think there might be a chance when there wasn't one at all.

Querl didn't exactly have a great track record when it came to relationships. In fact, his track record consisted of being enamored with tall, sexy blondes who wouldn't give him the time of day. How was he supposed to react to Lyle's offer? He'd never been propositioned before in his life. Suddenly, his mind was reeling with the implications. Did Lyle want to date? Did he want sex? What if he just felt sorry for Querl and wasn't really interested at all? How was he supposed to know?

He was so preoccupied that he didn't even hear Shikari come in until the pathfinder asked, "Green Legion?" in a very confused tone that snapped him out of his daze. Shikari was watching him with her head tilted to the side, obviously bewildered. "Why are you touching your lips like that?" she questioned innocently.

"Oh." Querl quickly lowered his hand, embarrassed. "No reason, Shikari. What brings you here?" He managed a tired smile. He really did like Shikari – he liked serving as a sort of mentor for her, even though his efforts to keep the other Legionnaires' bad habits from rubbing off on her were in vain.

"I heard that you had injured yourself while I was absent, Green Legion," Shikari replied, easily returning his smile. "It is polite to come and ask about your well being, isn't it?" She seemed to notice the bruising on his face for the first time and her jaw dropped. "That... does not look pleasant."

Querl sighed and shook his head. "It's not," he agreed. "I fell. Hit my head on the counter. I'm fine now, though; the doctor said there's no damage." He was lucky, he supposed. Things could have been worse. "It looks worse than it really is."

Luckily, she accepted this readily. Querl suspected that she didn't fully believe him, but she kept it to herself and settled for keeping him company for a while. Her company was preferable to most others because she seldom expressed disdain or acted as though Querl was beneath her. Shikari was a warm, understanding soul and a good listener on the few occasions when Querl actually felt like sharing. She also knew what it was like to not fit in, even among her own people.

"You have not been feeling well," Shikari said then and it wasn't a question. Querl winced at how perceptive she was – she was always good at getting to the heart of the matter. He briefly wondered if that had something to do with her path finding abilities. "Do you think this might be why you fell?"

He shrugged his shoulders and hunched over his keyboard. His headache was growing worse. "It's nothing to worry about, Shikari," he told her calmly.

Shikari pursed her lips unhappily, but finally nodded. "I will not worry, then," she said. "Though, I hope you feel better soon."

Querl could feel his ever present headache growing. Shikari was saying something else, but he found that he couldn't really focus on her at all. All twelve of his thought-tracks were swirling with information again and it felt like it was getting worse. To put it in simple terms, he didn't think his mind was capable of downloading so much information and a crash was imminent. This, admittedly, terrified him.

He stumbled to his feet, grabbing his chair for support. "Sorry, I need to go out for some air," he mumbled to Shikari as he passed her unsteadily. "I'll... catch up with you later."

Out of the lab, he made a beeline for his personal quarters and promptly locked himself in. He curled up into a ball on his bed, clutching his head in his hands as he attempted to _just stop thinking _for a moment. It didn't work and he whimpered miserably as he resigned himself to waiting it out.

* * *

It wasn't until hours later that he finally got up again, although his head was still killing him and it seemed a laborious task just to put one foot in front of the other. He had to get up, because he was starving – he hadn't eaten in two days, because he'd simply forgotten too – and he had to get something in his system. He held out a little hope that food and drink would clear his head a little and make it easier to cope.

Somehow, he made it all the way to the cafeteria. He groaned in pain as he sat down at the counter and Tenzil gave him an odd look. "What can I do for you, B5?" the Legion cook questioned with a cheerful grin. "You look hungry."

"Starving," Querl admitted softly. "I don't care what it is, just make me something that doesn't take very long."

Luckily, Tenzil was used to Querl showing up after missing meals for days, so he didn't find it strange. "Comin' right up, little green man. I'll try to find you something you'll really like."

Querl barely tasted the food Tenzil provided. He inhaled it more than ate it, anyway. It did ease his complaining stomach, but didn't seem to do much to improve anything else. He felt like he was really starting to lose it. The Legion chef watched him, expression unreadable behind his black shades. He was starting to make Querl a little uncomfortable.

"You doing okay?" Tenzil asked finally. "I've never seen you eat quite that fast before - although it's true that you don't usually waste time actually tasting your food."

"Headache," Querl replied simply, hoping to get the other boy off his back. Why was everyone suddenly so concerned with his health? It wasn't like any of them could do anything about it. At this point, Querl was the only person even capable of dealing with the problem – if he could figure out what it was. He really wanted some more pain killers. His numb, drugged days in the medical wing had been a blessed relief.

Tenzil, unfortunately, didn't back off. "Oh, right, from your accident," he said. "You had that checked out good, right? Not a good sign that you still have a headache, is it?"

"My accident?" For a minute, Querl couldn't remember what he was talking about. "Oh. Yes. That." He shifted awkwardly in his seat and then lifted his empty plate. "Could you get me some more?"

"Show me, first, your penny, Simple Simon," Tenzil replied in a joking tone as he took the plate. His grin fell when he realized that the joke had flown right over Brainy's head. "Old Earth rhyme," he tried to explain. "It was about a guy who was kind of slow."

Querl fixed him with a glare. "Implying what, Kem?"

The other boy took that at his cue to shut up and fetched Querl another plate of food, which he let the genius devour in silence.

With food in his system, Querl felt marginally better – capable of coherent thought, at least, though the hysteria was still right at the outskirts of his mind, threatening to take over at any time. There had to be a way to keep it like that until he could figure out what was wrong, but the only thing he could think of was drugs. He'd never been a big advocate of relying on medication, but then again, this was not a normal situation. There was a very real chance that his brain could crash under all this pressure.

He wandered down to the medical wings, hoping to convince Dr. Gym'll to give him some of the pain killers he'd been on before. It was a long shot. The doctor had been very firm with him before, stating that he didn't want Querl becoming dependent. The man had no idea what Querl was going through. Dependent? Querl would just about kill for anything that would fix his head right now.

"You're not getting any drugs from me," Dr. Gym'll said before Querl could even greet the man. "You don't need them. Your head's practically healed – just some bruising left. Anything more that you're feeling is all in your mind, I can promise you."

"I agree wholeheartedly but I don't think you understand," Querl replied, thinning his lips unhappily. "It's getting unbearable, whether or not you think it's real. It's like…" He paused, trying to decide if he wanted to tell the doctor what was really going on in his head. "It's like I'm thinking too much."

The doctor snorted incredulously. "Brainiac, you are _always _thinking too much."

"Granted." Querl grimaced. "It's worse than usual; a lot worse. It's like it completely takes over my brain and I can't stop it. There's a lot of pain and… and I'm concerned that I may be starting to go off the deep end. It runs in the family."

He'd never really admitted that out loud to anyone except Dr. Ryk'rr in his sessions with her, but it was a very real fear for him. His mother had gone crazy – possibly had always been crazy – and all of his ancestors had historically been completely off their rockers. Mr. Brande had warned him from a young age that there was a chance that his mind was vulnerable. That had never really hit home until the fiasco with his mother. Now, he was facing the reality of it and it didn't look pretty.

Finally, the doctor seemed to take him seriously. He motioned for Querl to have a seat, which Querl did. "I want you to be honest with me, Mr. Dox," he said firmly. "When you said that you slipped and hit your head by accident, were you telling me the truth?"

It took Querl a few minutes to grudgingly admit, "No. That was a lie."

"And what's the truth?" the doctor asked him solemnly.

"I was thinking too much." Querl shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I couldn't stop it, so I tried to stop myself. I knocked myself out on purpose." He shuddered at the memory. It had been terrifying to be that out of control.

Dr. Gym'll sighed and shook his head. "I thought it looked self-inflicted," he muttered. "I should really declare you unfit for duty." When Querl opened his mouth to object, the doctor cut him off. "Don't argue. If you're telling me the truth, you could have one of these spells out in the field and put yourself or your teammates in danger. If you hurt yourself for other reasons, you're at least a danger to yourself."

Querl stared down at his feet and scowled. "Take me off duty, then. It's not going to fix the problem. But I'd be able to function at least if you'd just give me a prescription."

"Function?" the doctor snapped. "That medication brings your IQ down lower than the average Earthling's. You'd be of no use to the team and I'd have to keep you hear in the medical wing to keep you from drooling all over your lab." He shook a finger at Querl accusingly. "You're not thinking about this logically. You got to spend a few days avoiding your problems and now you'd really like to get back to that. Unfortunately, I am a professional and you're going to have to find your drugs elsewhere."

Properly chastised, Querl rose from his seat. "Well, if that's your professional opinion, I won't waste any more of your time," he murmured stiffly. He shuffled off, feeling thoroughly beaten and just a little more lost than before.

How was he supposed to fight this if no one even believed him? He hated to say it, but… he was starting to think he really needed help with this. Maybe he could try talking to Lyle about it. Then again, there was that other problem which involved Lyle - and Querl wasn't sure he was ready to face that just yet.

It seemed like everything was just piling up all at once. He couldn't really be angry with Lyle for bringing this up now, of course, since the other boy had no clue that Querl had too much to worry about as it was. Still, it was horrifically bad timing. No doubt, Querl was going to end up doing something severely stupid before this was over with.

TBC


	4. Busted

**Dumb It Down**

By: Haiku

Fandom: Legion of Super-Heroes, Reboot

Characters: Brainiac 5, Ensemble

Pairings: Eventually Invisible Kid/Brainiac 5 (more pairings may develop)

Rating: M, for drug abuse, disturbing themes, suicidal thoughts, and sexual content.

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 4**

**Busted**

_Leave the body, leave the mind_

_Let me leave the body, leave the mind_

_Every promise, every place behind_

_I just happen to feel so alone_

_For today, for all days to come_

_I just wanna be, wanna be gone._

_- Anna Ternheim, "To Be Gone"_

"You kissed him?" Spark exclaimed incredulously, like she couldn't believe Lyle would do something so incredibly stupid. And to be fair, Lyle could only barely believe he'd actually done it, himself. "Are you crazy?"

Well, Lyle felt that was a little uncalled for. He leaned back in his chair and scowled. Just because he'd been assigned to patrol with Spark didn't mean he wanted to talk about his personal life with her. And yet, somehow, she'd talked him into admitting his most recent folly. Now he was never going to hear the end of it.

"He's kissed me before," he muttered defensively. "It's not like he's not interested. He just won't ever make a move and maybe I got tired of waiting. Maybe I'm sick of having to stand back and let him make colossal mistakes all the time."

Spark narrowed her eyes at the monitor – neither of them were facing each other, being that they were supposed to be watching for anything unusual. "Hey, first of all, Brainy doesn't know how this stuff works. He lived in, like, a _box_ when he was a kid. Seriously. He told me about it."

"He didn't live in a _box_," Lyle snorted. "You're exaggerating."

"I'm so not!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "I'm telling you, they kept him in one room and hardly ever interacted with him. They made robots to take care of him!"

Lyle rolled his eyes. "No offense, Ayla, but why would he tell you all this stuff? It's not like Brainy's the sharing type. I can't see him getting that chummy with anyone, especially not back then. He was a totally spoiled brat."

"Okay, I'm not trying to offend you either, but you have no idea what Brainy went through back then," Spark grumbled. "Everybody just assumes he's some emotionless _computer_ or something but he's got feelings! And seriously, from the start, you weren't that nice to him. He thought you were, I dunno', trying to outshine him."

"Well, I was," Lyle admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, back when we all first joined. I'm smart, I always have been, and it's always been my claim to fame. I got here and there was this guy who was supposedly the smartest kid in the galaxy. Who wouldn't feel threatened? I tried to make it up to him."

Spark shrugged her shoulders too. "Okay, that's not really the point," she admitted. "What I'm trying to get to is that when we were trapped in the 20th century... Brainy really missed you. He was pretty messed up. I mean, think about it, he's so smart and hardly anyone can keep up with him. You're the only one who can, I think."

Surprised, Lyle glanced over at her. "He... missed me?"

"Yeah." Spark kept her eyes on the screen. "He did. And I think he kind of felt useless, not being able to get us home. He needed someone, and I kind of needed someone too, so we... I dunno, we connected somehow. We don't hang so much anymore but he knows he can talk to me."

Maybe Lyle felt just a little jealous. He hadn't really known that Brainy and Spark were close. They were an unlikely pair, for sure. Then again, Spark had one of those personalities that just attracted people. It was really hard not to like her.

"Yeah, so what's he said to you about me?" he asked her, perhaps a little too eagerly.

Spark rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know, you're someone he can consider an equal. He thinks you're probably a lot more sensible than he is. He hasn't told me anything about how he feels about you. I mean, after he kissed you, I totally thought he was going to admit it, but he didn't."

That figured. Brainy remained a mystery and a frustration. Was there any way to figure the guy out? It wouldn't be so bad if Lyle didn't find himself so sprocking attracted to the jerk. Well, not just attracted; he cared about Brainy. He wanted to keep Brainy safe. Grife, he wanted to hold Brainy and reassure him that the whole universe wasn't against him.

"So, you kissed him," Spark said. "That was really dumb. Now you have to talk to him."

"Maybe that's not such a terrible thing," Lyle muttered.

* * *

Querl had a plan. It was very simple and he was surprised he hadn't thought of it before. In his lab, he had all the material he needed at his disposal. In short, Querl was going to make himself a drug to counteract this crazy brain explosion thing.

He set about gathering all the materials he needed and cleared a workspace, casually pushing aside the project he'd been working on with Lyle. He could already see in his mind exactly how this was going to work. For once, the crazy brain problem was actually benefiting him. He'd just let it loose for as long as it took to make himself this miracle drug, and then he'd be able to turn the sprocking thing off.

And when he managed that, he'd talk to Lyle. He'd be able to function enough to form coherent sentences, so he and Lyle would have a real discussion and the end result would be positive. Lyle would know that Querl was the only person worth his time. Everything would be perfect.

Where things would go from there, Querl wasn't sure, but it could only get better. This hope inspired him as he messily combined ingredients and scribbled calculations. He'd screwed things up with Andromeda himself, and there had never been any chance that his mother could care for him, but Lyle was different. With Lyle, things could be really great. And Querl was ready for that. Grife, he was so ready for that.

The end result was a vial of fizzing green liquid. It smelled peculiarly of floor varnish and Querl wrinkled his nose as he lifted it to his mouth. Steeling himself, he tipped up the vial and downed all of its contents. It tasted the same as it smelled, and Querl nearly gagged, but managed to keep it down. Then he waited for it to take effect.

Slowly, his headache began to subside and that delightful fuzzy feeling returned. He leaned against his counter and sighed in relief. Nothing needed to be focused on, millions of facts weren't clamoring about in his mind, begging for attention. It was all just nice and calm.

This was the best. It was kind of like he'd felt when he'd first been "upgraded." He could be happy like this. There were no problems and he could be friendly. Everyone would like him. Best of all, there was no pain.

He wandered out of his lab, perhaps not quite walking in a straight line, but at least at peace with that. He rested one hand against the wall as he made his way through the halls, not quite sure what he was looking for and not quite caring. It didn't bother him when he passed others and they gave him strange looks. It felt good to smile for a change.

"Brainy?" A hand on Querl's shoulder made him pause. He glanced back at the person who'd stopped him and his smile brightened when he saw Lyle. "What are you doing?" the Earthling asked. He sounded perplexed.

"I can tell you what I'm not doing," Querl replied smugly. He leaned in, close to Lyle's ear. "Thinking," he whispered, and then grinned. "Want to not think with me for a while?"

He could feel Lyle shiver. "Are you high on something?" the other boy asked quietly. "You're not acting... quite right."

Querl grasped Lyle's hand in his own and threaded their fingers together. He wasn't going to miss out this time. This time, it could be good. "Come back to my room with me," he urged, tugging at Lyle's hand. "We need to talk, right?"

Lyle obediently followed after him, gripping his hand in return. Of course he did, because Querl knew that Lyle wanted him. And right now, Querl wanted him back. They were both hoping that this could really be something. And Querl was the one who had fixed all the problems, just by fixing himself.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he drew Lyle into his room and carefully locked the door, so no one could accidentally walk in on them. "Lyle, I've finally gotten it all sorted out," he murmured, looking the other boy in the eyes. "I want you. I want to be with you."

"Is that what you're so happy about?" Lyle smiled at him fondly and lifted his hands to Querl's face. "Oh Brainy, you sure have a round about way of doing things, you know?"

They both leaned in at the same time and their mouths connected in a soft kiss. Querl hummed happily into it, his eyes drifting closed. "It doesn't matter, does it?" he murmured against Lyle's lips. "Now, it's alright."

The kiss deepened and Querl had never felt anything like it before. Even kissing Supergirl didn't measure up to this, because this was exactly what he wanted and exactly what he needed. They stumbled over to Querl's bed and fell against it.

Querl didn't even mind that he was the one beneath Lyle. The other boy leaned over him and pressed his lips softly against Querl's jaw and all Querl could do was feel the sensation of another person's mouth on his skin.

Then Lyle paused. He said nothing for a long while. Finally, just when Querl was about to speak up, the Earthling asked, "What are we doing?"

It was probably an important question but Querl couldn't be bothered with it right now. He needed to make this work and this was his opportunity. "Lyle, I _want _you," he breathed, grasping Lyle's arms desperately."You want me too, right?"

"Oh, Brainy," Lyle whispered back. And then he was kissing Querl again, ferociously this time, and Querl kissed him back with just as much passion and none of the hesitance he would have had before.

Lyle's hands tugged open Querl's uniform. His fingers slipped in and touched Querl's chest, brushing against his sensitive nipples. Querl gasped softly into Lyle's mouth and their tongues tangled with each other, leaving Querl breathless.

One of Lyle's hands traveled down from his chest to rest between his legs, against the bulge growing there. "I can't believe you're actually letting me do this," the Earthling murmured. He gave Querl a shaky smile. "You really do want this."

"So much," Querl agreed, spreading his legs to better accommodate Lyle's presence. "We should have done this a long time ago."

"Yeah, that's probably true," Lyle agreed, leaning down to fondly kiss Querl's cheek. "I think you're swell, you know that?"

That made Querl smile back. No one ever called him "swell." Lyle was the only one who could stand him. Right now, Lyle was the only one who mattered. Who cared if the rest of the crew would rather kick him out? At least there was one person on his side.

He was blushing; he could feel the heat in his cheeks. When Lyle settled down between his legs, Querl wrapped his arms around him and held on tight. "I want to be swell for you, Lyle," he murmured back. "I want to be good for you."

"I know you do," Lyle replied gently. "It's okay, Brainy, I know."

Their bodies pressed together with delicious friction, and Querl couldn't help the little groans and whimpers that escaped him as the pleasure grew. Lyle pressed kisses to his face and neck, whispering little nothings under his breath as they moved together. This was fantastic, great, all those words, and why had Querl never gotten to feel anything like this before? Where had this been all of his life?

He could feel the pressure building up and building up, so he knew there was a breaking point coming soon. "Lyle!" he whispered urgently. "I think...!" Words were lost to him then, when his orgasm suddenly rocked through him. His eyes rolled back in his head and his breath caught in his throat, his mouth opening in a silent scream.

"Brainy!" Lyle called out, collapsing on top of him, his chest heaving frantically as he struggled to catch his breath. "Oh Grife, Brainy, oh..."

They lay together like that for awhile, mindless of sweat and soiled uniforms. Neither spoke. Querl didn't think. He wasn't worried about where they'd go from here and he wasn't analyzing Lyle or trying to get to the bottom of things. He was just relaxed. And being relaxed like this felt good.

* * *

After that, Querl made himself a supply of the drug. One vial seemed to last a couple days, so he kept plenty on hand in his lab. When the effects started to wear off, all he had to do was grab another vial. It was even better than the upgrade too, because this was something Querl had control over. It wasn't a choice that someone else had made for him.

Things were great with Lyle too. All it really took to keep the other boy happy was a peck on the cheek now and then, a smile, or maybe holding hands. Lyle was easy to please and Querl was eager to please him. Before long, the rest of the Legion was gossiping about them. Querl didn't care. If they all saw straight through him now, he didn't care. Things were finally okay.

Except that he noticed that gradually, it was taking him a vial a day to keep that good feeling. His body was starting to get used to the drug and he ended up needing more and more of it. No one else had a clue that he was taking it. He needed a way to prolong the effects.

It occurred to him that maybe if he injected the medication directly into his bloodstream, the effect would be stronger. The only problem was, if he gave himself regular injections where others could see, someone was going to notice and blow the whole thing out of proportion. His old uniform had long sleeves, but this one had short sleeves. People would notice needle marks on his arms.

He settled for his thighs, which most people weren't likely to see. Only Lyle, really, although occasionally he'd had to strip in front of teammates when they needed decontamination.

When injected, the drug lasted a lot longer. Three to four days, on average.

Meanwhile, things with Lyle were getting more and more serious. They hadn't done anything more than make out since that first time, because Lyle was worried about taking things too fast, but it had been about a month now. They were both ready to go a little further.

Querl found himself completely willing to let Lyle take the lead; just like he was fine with Lyle picking where they went on dates, and how long they stayed in the labs before they retired to their rooms. Before, he was certain he would have needed to dictate how everything went and he wasn't sure he would have been able to lie beneath Lyle, open and vulnerable. Things were different now. He liked not being in control.

He wasn't surprised when Lyle took one of their make out sessions a little further. When the other boy's hand reached a little further south than usual, timidly fondling Querl through his uniform, Querl's response was to moan his approval and let his legs slide apart. That was all the invitation Lyle needed.

At first, the feeling of something else, something foreign to himself pushing inside his body had Querl on edge. It was uncomfortable, a little painful even with how careful and thorough Lyle had insisted on being. The general haze he usually existed in now faded a little, the burn between his legs pulling him back into full consciousness. But then the pain changed into pure ecstasy, and his worries fell away once more.

Afterward, as they lay together in contented quiet, Lyle began to lazily kiss him. He started with Querl's forehead and slowly worked downward, as though he was determined to kiss every inch of Querl's skin. In the back of his mind, Querl could feel the drug wearing off. He would have to get up soon and go to the lab for another dose.

Lyle's hands were caressing Querl's things as the other boy's lips pressed little kisses to them. When Lyle's fingers brushed across the puncture wounds on Querl's left thigh, both boys froze.

"What's this?" Lyle demanded, sitting up and turning on the lamp, flooding the bedroom with light. "What the sprock is this?"

Querl started to move away, but Lyle caught him by the arm in a harsh grip.

"Brainy, you tell me what those marks on your leg are," the human said firmly, "or I swear, you are not going to like the consequences. What have you been doing to yourself?"

"It's nothing," Querl muttered, but he couldn't make himself look at Lyle. "I was just doing an experiment, is all, and it required an injection. It's totally harmless, I promise. You're overreacting."

"Why are you _lying_ to me?" Lyle demanded, his tone reaching a slightly hysterical point. "You wouldn't be hiding this if it was some harmless experiment! I've ignored this problem, because I thought if things between us kept you in a good mood, you wouldn't do it anymore. But I will not turn a blind eye to you hurting yourself!"

"I'm not!" Querl tried to explain, his eyes widening. "Lyle, I've never hurt myself on purpose!"

"I know you didn't just trip in the lab that time, Brainy! The doctor told me then to keep an eye on you and I should have believed him!" Lyle scrambled out of the bed and started to pull on his clothes. "Get dressed, we're going to med bay."

The Coluan shook his head, pulling the sheets around himself. "Please, Lyle, you've overreacting and can explain. It's not what you think, I swear."

Lyle turned to look at him with the most furious expression that Querl had ever seen on the boy's face. "Get your clothes on _now_," he spat, so angry that his face was turning red. "Don't make me call for backup, Querl."

Trembling, Querl climbed out of the bed and set about redressing. "I really need a shower first," he tried to object, but Lyle's hands clenched into fists at his sides and Querl decided it was probably better not to fight this battle.

When Querl had dressed, Lyle put an arm around his shoulders, holding tight as he directed Querl to the medical bay. Querl didn't dare look up at his lover's face.

"I should have known something was wrong," Lyle was muttering to himself. "You, this happy all the time? I should have known it was bull. I should have _known_."

Querl felt sick to his stomach. Even though Lyle was wrong – he wasn't hurting himself – Querl couldn't explain the real reason for those needle marks. Lyle wouldn't understand and Querl couldn't face the other boy's disappointment in him.

Dr. Gym'll looked up from his desk when Lyle and Querl entered and quickly stood from his chair. "What's going on?" he wanted to know. He didn't even sound surprised that they were there, just worried. "What's wrong?"

"We need a private room," Lyle ground out, his hold on Querl tightening a little. "Brainy has something to show you."

The doctor directed them to an empty room, closing the door behind him. Lyle finally let go of Querl, and they both looked at him expectantly. Querl wrapped his arms around his waist and kept his gaze locked on the floor.

"There's been a misunderstanding," he spoke, trying to keep calm, but his voice trembled a little. "Invisible Kid has made assumptions with no evidence to back them up."

"I'll be the judge of that," Gym'll snapped. "I have let this go on long enough, Querl. If there's a problem, we need to start working now to fix it. I told Lyle to bring you straight here if he found any evidence of self-harm. You admitted to me that you've already hurt yourself on one other occasion and you expect me to ignore that?"

"Show him, Brainy," Lyle said, his voice as shaky as Querl's. "Show him your leg."

"It's nothing!" Querl swore, looking up at them. "I'm not hurting myself!"

Dr. Gym'll regarded him with a cold, calm expression. "Strip, Brainiac 5. As your physician, I am telling you that you will not be allowed to leave this room until I have conducted a full examination of you and decided on the proper measures to take."

Lyle looked like he was about to cry, but he was stubbornly keeping his eyes on Querl. There was no way out of this, Querl realized. If he tried to get out of it, he ran the risk of losing Lyle's trust – if he hadn't lost that already.

Slowly, he unzipped his uniform and slid it off. Stepping out of it, he sat down on the examination table. "I believe that Lyle is upset about the needle marks on my left thigh," he said, his voice hollow as he surrendered to them. "However, I insist that I have not been harming myself."

The doctor snapped on rubber gloves and approached him, prodding at the tender, damaged skin.

"You've been injecting yourself with something," Gym'll said finally, his tone accusatory. "Haven't you?"

"Yes," Querl replied softly. "I developed the drug myself after you refused to give me a prescription. The... headaches... they were too much. I told you that something was wrong, but you didn't believe me. You'd rather think that I'm _hurting_ myself."

Did they have so little faith in him? Was it so obvious to everyone that his sanity was on the edge of a knife?

"You've been drugging yourself?" Lyle sounded horrified. "Oh Grife, Brainy. I though you were just distracted. I've been fixing your work for _weeks_, because I thought that we – I thought it was _me_, keeping you from paying attention. And you've been doing this to yourself?"

"Can I please go now?" Querl asked, his voice cracking. "I think we've established that there's nothing wrong with me."

"Except a drug problem," the doctor snapped. "You're not going anywhere, Brainiac 5. I'm officially taking you off duty and you will remain here for detox. I don't know why you're doing this to yourself but I will not allow it to continue on my watch."

"Please." Querl didn't even care how pathetic he sounded. The headache was starting to come back. "You don't understand. Don't keep me here. The drug... I _need _it. _Please_."

But their faces were closed off, and he could tell they didn't trust him and weren't going to listen to a word he said. They'd already made up their minds, and there was nothing he could do about it.

TBC


	5. Point of No Return

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 5**

**Point of No Return**

_Whenever I'm alone with you,_

_You make me feel like I am home again._

_Whenever I'm alone with you,_

_You make me feel like I am whole again._

_**-Anberlin, "Love Song"**_

_Querl is floating. It feels sort of like the Sleepnet. Everything around him is asleep, but somehow awake and sharing information at rapid speed. Unlike the Sleepnet, this flow of information intrigues him – fascinates him, even. This information is raw and untapped. If he can just find a way to fully access it instead of swimming in an ocean of it, he thinks he might know all the secrets of the universe._

_This is my destiny, he thinks to himself. He is the one who is capable of reaching this furthest point, where no great mind has been before. His ancestors all fell short. Maybe it was because they each fought for some sense of control over their own minds. But now Querl felt certain that the mind was not something to be controlled or harnessed. He had to let his mind wander where it would._

_He could be a god, he realizes. In all of this infinite wisdom, his material self could drown and he would be the portal that the wisdom used to enter the world. His mind would be the vehicle and his mouth would be the gate to usher in a new age. _

_But at the edges, something scrapes; like claws against a windowpane, trying to get through an invisible barrier. He cringes back from the sound and the flow is interrupted. No, he thinks desperately, grasping in vain at the strands of knowledge as they flee from him, or from the sound. _

_Suddenly he is submerged, and he cannot breathe. He panics and his hands fly out, searched desperately for something to hold, and beyond all hope he catches hold of something solid. His hands grip another pair of hands, hands that curl around his protectively and promise safety and security. Those hands are pulling him out…_

Querl woke from the dream with a strangled gasp, gulping in air like his life depended on it. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone. Lyle was seated on the bed, holding tightly to his hands, and staring down at him with concern.

"Are you okay there, Brainy?" his friend asked gently. "You had a bad dream again. Do you remember that?"

"I remember this one," Querl replied. His voice was hoarse and cracked for some reason. He looked around and noted that he was in the medical wing. He didn't remember being brought here. Had something happened? "Why am I here?" he asked worriedly.

A look of disappointment crossed Lyle's face and he gripped Querl's hands a little tighter. "It's going to be alright," the boy murmured. "You're just… sick right now, you see. We'll help you get better, I promise."

If he'd been a little drowsier, Querl might have accepted that response and fallen asleep again, and into the blessed waters of wisdom that his dreams held for him. But something wasn't right. He struggled to focus.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, confused. "I'm sick with… what?"

Lyle didn't answer him immediately. He moved away from Querl for a moment – then returned to press a damp cloth to Querl's forehead. "Well, that drug you were taking was suppressing a lot of stuff. And when we found out you were taking it, we tried to analyze it to make weaning you off of it easier but… we couldn't figure it out."

That sounded familiar, vaguely. "Did we have sex?" he mumbled, trying to sort out the fuzzy memories in his head. It seemed like a preposterous idea but he seemed to remember something…

"Yes, we did." Lyle's mouth pressed into a thin line. "You… weren't yourself."

"Sorry," Querl croaked, weakly reaching out. He didn't want Lyle to leave; he wasn't even sure what had happened between them. He wasn't sure of anything that had happened since he'd first developed the drug. He remembered taking it – it made things better, he thought – but things weren't clear.

His friend hesitated for a moment before taking Querl's hand again. "I'm here," Lyle murmured. "Don't worry about it, okay? It's water under the bridge. Right now I just want you to focus on getting better. You'll be alright soon."

Maybe he would but there was something bothering him. Something…

"Lyle… My head…"

Pain was suddenly exploding in his brain and Querl cried out, pressing his palms to his temples desperately. Oh grife, it hurt. What was happening?

"Easy, easy, it's okay." Lyle pushed him down firmly against the mattress. "It's just because you're not on the drug anymore. We've been trying to give you something for the pain but we have to be careful. You could become dependent on the painkillers."

"No, that's not it. It's something else," Querl whispered desperately. "Something… My head… Lyle, I made the drug because of my head."

"I know," Lyle said soothingly. "I know you thought you needed help, Brainy, but you didn't need that stuff. You'll see when it's all out of your system."

Querl felt like crying. Why didn't anyone believe him? It felt like his head was going to explode and dreaming was like drowning. He needed the drug to fix it or he didn't know what would happen. But he felt so weak – there was no way he could get back to his lab and make more of the drug. He wasn't strong enough.

"Please, Lyle," he begged. "You don't understand. I'm scared my mind is… is broken, I…"

"You're going to be okay." Lyle's lips pressed tenderly against his forehead. "I know you're scared. It's going to be fine. I'm here for you and I'm going to take care of you."

Tears slipped down Querl's cheeks. There was no way to make Lyle understand. Unless he could find a way on his own, things were only going to get worse.

"Why won't you listen to me?" he asked. The pain was starting to overwhelm him. "My head hurt before! When I hit it on the counter – I did that on purpose. I was trying to knock myself out! Because I was thinking so much, Lyle, I can't… It hurts… Please…"

The pain was thumping behind his eyes. He had to make Lyle see that he wasn't just addicted to the drug. This was more serious than that.

"Brainy? Oh Grife, Brainy? Querl!" Lyle's hands were suddenly pressed against his face. "Dr. Gym'll! Something's wrong! He's bleeding!"

"Bleeding?" Querl looked up at Lyle questioningly. "How?"

He felt something trickle down his upper lip. His tongue flicked out impulsively and came back with the taste of copper.

"Nosebleed," Lyle said sharply. He grabbed a tissue from the table next to the bed and pressed it to Querl's nose. "Don't worry, the doctor will take care of it. Just hang tight, Brainy."

Half an hour later, the bleeding hadn't stopped. Querl was allowed to sit up, at least, while they tried to staunch the blood flow. His head was still pounding and he was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"We need to do some thorough scans," Dr. Gym'll said at last, though he talked to Lyle, not to Querl. "There's no reason for him to be in this kind of pain. Something must be wrong. I did scans when he hit his head and found nothing, but there must be something we're missing."

Querl groaned softly. He wasn't sure what he planned on doing if the doctor did find something wrong. Was it a tumor? Cancer, even? What if it was just plain old faulty wiring and there was nothing he could do about it?

"Am I going insane?" he mumbled wearily. "Can someone just tell me if I am or not?"

"You've always been insane, Mr. Dox," the doctor told him plainly, giving him a stern look. "I think we all know that you think a little outside of the box. I don't believe that's what the problem is. Let's look at what we know about the Brainiac line. The first Brainiac was insane, Vril Dox the Second was of very questionable sanity, Lyrl Dox was also fairly insane, and your mother has some very interesting issues. To my knowledge, none of them ever experienced their brains literally working too much."

"Very comforting," Querl groused. "So I am crazy, but that's not what's killing me."

"You being crazy is just what's killing the rest of us," Lyle promised him with a grin. "Besides, you're not dying. Don't talk like that."

Querl fixed him with a glare. "I _told _you I wasn't hurting myself and you didn't believe me. Now you're being nice? After you embarrassed me publicly and forced me to consent to a physical exam _right after _I lost my virginity to you?"

The dark red blush on Lyle's face made Querl feel a little bit better. Holding up his hands, Lyle murmured, "I was just worried about you. I… may have overreacted."

"I'm never having sex with you again," Querl declared firmly, "even if my head _doesn't _explode."

"I'm sorry," the other boy mumbled uncomfortably. "I'll make it up to you."

"Doubtful." Querl lowered the tissue he'd been pressing to his nose. It seemed as though the bleeding had finally stopped, at least. He looked at the two of them, from Dr. Gym'll to Lyle. "Can I please leave? Or do you still think I'm a self-destructive drug addict?"

Dr. Gym'll still looked uncertain, and Lyle looked incredibly uncomfortable. "The scans should be done sooner, rather than later," the doctor insisted. "We'll do the scans and then I suppose you're free to go. But Brainiac – if I find out you've been self-medicating again, there will be serious consequences. Also, you're off duty until we figure out what's wrong with you."

Querl supposed that was better than nothing. As far as he was concerned, the doctor's rules were not so difficult to deal with. He was already off duty anyway, and he could figure out a way to take the drug without anyone finding out, as long as Dr. Gym'll didn't make him take a drug test.

Maybe he dozed off during the scans, or maybe he just lost focus. The scary thing was that Querl really wasn't sure which it was. Normally, he was keenly aware of his surroundings. He wasn't a heavy sleeper. But with his brain working overtime like this, everything was just a big jumble of noise without drugs to calm it down.

Regardless, it was several more hours before he was lucid enough to realize that he'd been returned to his hospital bed. There were painkillers this time, luckily. Perhaps they'd finally decided that an addiction was the least of Querl's problems right now.

He could see the doctor hovering over him, but couldn't make out the expression on his face. His vision was far too blurry and it wasn't clearing. He tried to raise his hand to rub his eyes, but realized that it was firmly fastened to the bedrail.

"Dr. Gym'll?" he called out, though he couldn't call very loudly. His voice sounded hoarse. "Thought… you said I could go…"

Immediately, the doctor turned to him. "You had another spell, Brainiac. We had to put you under to finish the scans. The sedative dose wasn't enough to keep you from thrashing, which you were doing quite a bit of. That's why you're strapped down."

"Oh…" Querl tried to sort all of it out in his head, to no avail. "I don't remember that."

"You seem to be suffering from memory lapses," the doctor explained. "Initially we thought it was disorientation from the withdrawal pains, but you're still having them. I think it's connected to this little problem you're having with your brain."

"Did the scans find anything?" Querl asked, squinting at Dr. Gym'll to try and see him better. His vision still hadn't cleared. "I can't see very well."

"I think perhaps you should sleep for a while longer," Dr. Gym'll replied. The doctor reached over Querl and a few moments later, Querl felt sleep start to drag him down again. "We'll talk about this soon," the doctor said, "but for now, you need rest."

Watching Brainy slowly degenerating was absolute misery for Lyle. He felt responsible, in a way, because he hadn't listened to Brainy. Dr. Gym'll assured him that it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help thinking that if he'd taken Brainy seriously, maybe they would have caught this sooner and they would have been closer to a cure.

The most obvious problem was the memory loss. Brainy had been in medical bay for two weeks now, but Lyle was pretty sure he didn't realize that. Every time Brainy woke up, it was like he'd been rebooted and the day before was a blank.

Unfortunately, the most recent development was that the scans had shown minor swelling in the Coluan's brain, and Dr. Gym'll couldn't figure out why. As far as they could tell, the swelling was gradually getting worse and the symptoms were going to become more and more obvious.

In short, unless they could figure out what the problem was and how to fix it, this was eventually going to kill Brainy.

"The upgrade needs to come out," Dr. Gym'll murmured, frowning as he looked over Brainy's latest scans. "The technology is going to damage him further if his brain swells around it. He was awake a moment ago and said something about not being able to see. That's probably brain damage."

"So, he needs surgery?" Lyle asked nervously, not sure how he felt about that. For one thing, no one was sure exactly what Querl's upgrade actually did, or how connected it was to his brain. And surgery to remove it would be highly dangerous. "Can he handle that right now?"

"It's our only choice," Dr. Gym'll replied. "The longer we wait, the more damage he's going to sustain. I'll schedule the surgery for tomorrow morning."

"So soon?" Lyle grimaced. "Shouldn't we ask him first?"

"He's barely coherent, Mr. Norg. He still can't figure out what day of the week it is. You expect me to let him make important decisions that could impact whether or not he ever makes a full recovery when he wouldn't even be able to tie his shoe laces without help?"

Lyle bit his lip and shook his head. "No, he's in no shape to call the shots. I'm just worried. What if something goes wrong and you can't fix it? I mean, his mind is… everything. I don't know if he'll be able to function if he's not, you know… _brainy_."

The doctor sighed and rubbed his temple. "I think it's time to face the fact that he's not going to come out of this unchanged, Mr. Norg. The vision loss is likely permanent, for instance, although we might be able to repair it with corrective lenses."

Brainy wasn't going to like that. In fact, it was probably a good thing that the doctor was keeping Brainy fairly drugged up, because the Coluan would probably freak if he thought he was going blind.

Still, it didn't seem fair to be making all these important decisions for Brainy without even telling him about them. Lyle didn't want to be even partially responsible for potentially ruining Brainy's life, but he didn't want his friend to die, either.

He slipped back to Brainy's private room and curled up in the chair next to Brainy's bed where he spent most of his time these days. If Brainy woke up and needed someone, Lyle wanted to be there for him. He'd only left medical bay a few times over the past two weeks. Spark had been bringing his meals to him, mostly as an excuse to visit Brainy herself. A few times, Brainy had woken when she was there, but he never remembered it later on.

No one had really said it out loud yet, but Lyle knew that they were probably fighting a losing battle for Brainy. Every time he resumed his post in this room, he knew he was probably watching his friend slowly dying. It seemed that something else was missing every time Brainy woke up.

He reached out and gently stroked Brainy's cheek as the other boy slept. The longer Brainy spent here, the worse he looked. His green skin, normally a vibrant emerald shade, was now a washed out, pale imitation of its former glory. His hair was lackluster, though Lyle had been careful to wash it and brush it out. In fact, Lyle had tended to Brainy diligently, though it wasn't a glamorous job. But he felt like he owed it to his friend.

If Brainy made it through this, Lyle promised himself that he'd be the one to take care of Brainy, as long as Brainy needed it. If living through this meant Brainy would never be his old self again, Lyle would still be there for him.

Brain damage – it was hard to associate those words with Brainy. There was never a person quite as brilliant as Brainy, probably not even his ancestors. He had a beautiful mind, simply put, and Lyle was so in love with that mind and the fragile soul attached to it. He just couldn't imagine…

After a while, he fell asleep, holding one of Brainy's hands in his own. He wasn't sure how long he slept – he was always tired these days, because he couldn't bear to leave Brainy's side. Eventually, though, he was jolted from his napping by noise nearby.

He slowly opened his eyes. The bed beside him was empty, and the IV stand Brainy was hooked up to had gone mysteriously missing as well. It took Lyle a moment to register what this meant. When it hit him, he jerked upright, looking around the room wildly.

"Brainy?"

An abrupt crash had Lyle on his feet and sprinting from the room. He didn't have to go very far. His missing friend had crashed to the floor just outside of the room, IV stand and all, and was blinking dazedly from where he was sitting.

Lyle dropped to his knees in front of the Coluan. "Brainy, what the sprock are you doing out of bed?"

"Lyle? I can't see a damn thing," Brainy replied sourly, glaring at the wall above Lyle's shoulder. "I wanted some pants, but this thing you people have me rigged to made me trip. Is there a bathroom somewhere?"

Oh, brilliant. Brainy was lucid enough to really notice the vision problems. If Lyle didn't explain, it was probably only going to freak him out further.

"Hey, B, listen," he murmured, reaching out to gently touch Brainy's cheek. "The doctor thinks your brain is… swelling. Not very much, but it's swelling around your implant, and we think it might be causing some minor damage."

For a moment, Brainy didn't speak. Despite how unfocused his eyes were, Lyle could see the gears turning behind them. "Brain damage," Brainy finally said. "I'm losing my eyesight because of brain damage."

"Don't freak," Lyle begged. "We'll have to try and surgically remove the implant."

Suddenly, Brainy reached up and grabbed his hand. "You can't do that! The implant is the only thing keeping me sane!"

"Calm down." Lyle gripped Brainy's hand firmly in return. "I am going to figure out how to fix this, do you hear me? But you have to trust me. I am going to be here every step of the way and I am going to take care of you, I promise."

The Coluan just held onto his hand for a long moment, his expression drawn and worried.

"Am I dying?" he asked.

"No," Lyle replied fiercely. "You're not dying. I'm not going to let you die."

Brainy's lower lip trembled just a little. "What if you can't help? I… I don't want to die."

"Oh, no, Brainy, that's not going to happen," Lyle promised desperately, his hands gripping Brainy's face. "I'm not going to let that happen. You're going to be fine."

He hadn't meant to kiss Brainy this time but he couldn't say he minded when their lips touched and Brainy's mouth opened for him, melding them together.

When they broke apart, Brainy was breathing harshly and his unfocused eyes made him look wild. "That was different," he whispered. "I could feel that."

Lyle felt like crying, because he'd felt it every time he'd ever kissed Brainy and the knowledge that Brainy hadn't was too much to bear. "Why did you do it, Brainy? I love you so much. I just wanted to be with you."

"I wasn't good enough." Brainy reached out trembling hands to Lyle. "When I'm just me, I can't get close to people. I just wanted to be what you wanted."

"You are what I want." Lyle gripped Brainy's hands in his, holding them tightly. A sense of loss settled over him. What if this was the last time he could ever tell all these things to Brainy? He just wanted the other boy to know, before it was too late. "You're beautiful, just the way you are. I never meant to make you feel like you weren't good enough. Grife, Querl, you're so important to me. If I lost you, it would feel like losing my heart. Don't you get it?"

Brainy shuddered and leaned against Lyle's shoulder, hiding his face clumsily. "I wish I could see your face right now," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Choking back the tears that threatened to overcome him, Lyle helped Brainy to his feet and guided him back to bed. By the time he had Brainy tucked into bed, the Coluan was starting to fade again. In the morning, would Brainy remember kissing Lyle, or the words Lyle had spoken to him? Probably not; in the end, the admissions in the hallway were only for Lyle's own benefit.

TBC


	6. Selfish

**Dumb It Down: Chapter 6**

**Selfish**

_Every night that goes between,_

_I feel a little less._

_As you slowly go away from me,_

_This is only another test._

_**-Fleetwood Mac, "Storms"**_

"I've consulted with the finest minds in medical science," Dr. Gym'll said to Lyle, bent over the various images of the inside of Brainy's head that he had spread across his desk. "They all say the same thing; the implant has to come out. I know I said I thought it would be best if we did the surgery as soon as possible, but… There's one person I haven't consulted with. If we could get her on board, it would be our best shot and saving him."

Lyle was desperate for any small glimmer of hope. "Who is it?" he demanded harshly. "Who haven't you asked?"

The doctor breathed a heavy sigh and shook his head. "You're not going to like it and it's a long shot."

"Just tell me," Lyle begged, slumping down in his chair. He's so tired; he couldn't sleep last night after finding Brainy out of bed. This morning, Brainy had woken up with no recollection of kissing Lyle or the conversation they had. It was like he'd simply been rebooted back to a safe point before all of his systems crashed. "If there's any chance…"

"Brainiac 4," Dr. Gym'll said reluctantly. "She's every bit as brilliant as he is; maybe more so. The problem is getting her to cooperate, but we might be able to entice her simply with the challenge of it."

A sick feeling settled in the pit of Lyle's stomach. This truly was a last resort; if Brainy found out that they were asking for his mother's help messing around in his head, he would truly lose it. But Lyle just could not bear to lose his best friend. If this was the only option remaining… "I'll go and talk to her. The last I heard was that she was responding well to therapy. Maybe she's… I don't know, grown a conscience."

"I wouldn't count on it," the doctor muttered. "She's never made an effort to apologize for trying to kill him, has she? And quite frankly, it's my professional opinion that the electrocution via the implant was the root cause of all of this, somehow. She didn't kill him when she wanted to, but she may very well kill him in the long run."

Lyle's hands clenched into fists and he gritted his teeth, trying to control his anger towards the woman. "Who the hell does something like that to their own kid? Grife."

The doctor fell silent. He was the one who oversaw Brainy's treatment after his mother's assault; the one who insisted that Brainy talk to his associate and friend, Dr. Ryk'rr, in order to overcome the trauma. Lyle wasn't there. He should have been – he was told about it – but he'd made the choice to stay where he was on Durla, where he'd thought he was needed more.

"I'll go to Takron Galtos," Lyle said again firmly. "Maybe she won't want anything to do with it, but it can't hurt to ask."

"Try to keep your personal feelings out of it," Dr. Gym'll warned him. "If you make her mad, you'll likely ruin any chance of convincing her to do this. Just remember that it's for Brainiac 5's sake and don't let her get under your skin."

* * *

Takron Galtos was a place Lyle tried not to spend too much time in if he could avoid it. So many super villains in one place just seemed like a bad idea to him, and the fact that he'd helped put many of them there meant that the occupants of the super prison were not exactly thrilled to see him. He ignored the shouts and jeers that echoed after him as he followed the warden past cell after cell. His mission was more important than any of the idiots who blamed him for their incarceration.

Unlike many of the cells in the prison, Brainiac 4's quarters were oddly quiet. When Lyle peered inside, he saw that the woman the cell housed was sitting cross-legged on the bed, her eyes closed. The warden knocked loudly on the door and called out, "Ms. Dox, you have a visitor!"

Brainiac 4 opened one eye and peered at them both curiously before shrugging her shoulders. She closed her both eyes again, took a deep breath, and then opened her eyes and stood from the bed. "I don't take company here," she told the warden calmly. "You know I prefer more comfortable quarters for guests."

"Cuffs on, Mrella, and we'll take this conversation elsewhere," the warden promised her, his attitude surprisingly friendly, as though he had no idea he was talking to a woman guilty of genocide and more. "Be nice to your guest; he's from the Legion."

The warden opened the door to Brainiac 4's cell and she stood calmly as he cuffed her, her eyes trained on Lyle the entire time. "My boy is in the Legion," she remarked, a note of pride in her tone. Then she sobered, her serene smile falling away. "You've come here about Querl, haven't you?"

"Hear me out," Lyle replied, trying not to sound as desperate as he actually was. "He needs your help."

"He won't want my help," Mrella Dox murmured, shaking her head. "Whatever it is, unless he specifically asked for my aid, you are wasting your time. Unfortunately, there can be no repairing my relationship with my son."

"If you don't help, he's going to die," Lyle said sharply. "If you've changed at all, if you want to make repairs, now is your chance. I'm not saying he'll ever forgive you, but you'll at least make up for what you did to him."

For a moment, Brainiac 4 was silent. Then she said, "Very well, boy, we will discuss this in greater detail."

Lyle carefully kept his temper in check. He wanted to yell at her, demand to know what the hell she'd been thinking back then. Didn't she know what a brilliant, amazing son she had? She didn't deserve Brainy. But while that was true, it was also true that Brainy needed her now, and Brainy's wellbeing was far more important.

The warden took them to an isolated visiting room. Like most of Takron Galtos, the security level was high but the comfort level was low. The room had one table and three plastic chairs. Lyle sat down in one of them and Brainiac 4 took her place across the table from him. The warden excused himself after stating that he would be outside the room if any trouble should arise.

"Who are you to my son?" Brainiac 4 asked sharply once the warden had left. "You're not just a friend."

Lyle wondered how she could possibly know that but he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm Lyle Norg, also known as Invisible Kid. Brainy – err, Querl – is my best friend. We work together."

"And sleep together," Brainiac 4 said with amusement. "There's no point in trying to deny it, I know I'm not wrong."

"Well, you're right, we _have _slept together," Lyle replied, figuring it was better to just admit it if it would get her back on track. "That's not important. What's important is that Querl is dying and we don't know how to save him. You're the only person who might know. Dr. Gym'll sent this file with me for you to look over."

He scooted the paper folder across the table to her. Brainiac 4 took it awkwardly in her cuffed hands and opened it, quickly scanning the contents. Her gaze paused on one of the X-rays. "… There are traces of damage around the swelling. Your doctor might not have noticed. A traumatic event has caused the area around his implant to be weaker."

"Our doctor wants to remove the implant," Lyle said. "Is it safe?"

"It will be if the procedure is handled properly, but it will be a very delicate matter," she replied. "It would be best if I was overseeing the process. However, if the implant is removed, his recovery will be extremely difficult. I'm sure you've surmised that the implant keeps his brain manageable."

"I had assumed, but how do you know anything about it?" Lyle questioned suspiciously. "You never call him or try to contact him in any way."

"I have my sources," Brainiac 4 told him calmly. "You didn't think I'd just turn a blind eye?"

"I didn't think you cared," Lyle said bluntly.

Brainiac 4 spread her hands out. "You are angry with me, Lyle Norg. I can understand how it might appear to you. Even my son does not truly understand, but then again, his opinion is undoubtedly biased. I am a product of my environment and my emotions were suppressed from a very young age. Luckily, I have been able to work through many things in my time here. Even someone as smart as me needs structure and time to think in order to sort out the biggest problems."

No matter what she said, Lyle didn't fully trust her. "Either that or you're a really good liar."

"I am that as well." A grin spread across her face. "Yes, I can see why my son tolerates you. You're clever, for a human. I will make a deal with you. I will ensure that the surgery is a success, and I will also repair the damage that has already been done. In return, I expect you to remain by my son's side throughout the recovery process, to make sure that he fully recovers all of his faculties. Think about it carefully before you agree. You do not know what you will be getting yourself into."

Lyle didn't have to think about it. He already knew what he was going to say. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"I will hold you to that, Lyle Norg," Brainiac 4 replied. "Now, from what I can tell, there is no time to waste. Let us make the appropriate arrangements."

* * *

"What did she want in return?" Dr. Gym'll asked as he and Lyle watched Brainiac 4 rearrange the medical bay more to her liking. "Freedom? A fancy laboratory?"

Lyle shook his head. He could hardly believe himself but Brainiac 4 hadn't asked for anything like that. "She just wanted me to promise to stay with Brainy while he recovers. Apparently, she thinks this surgery is going to be hard on him."

The doctor nodded in agreement. "She's right about that. Even if he eventually makes a full recovery from this, the healing process is going to be extremely trying for him. He might have to relearn quite a few things, depending on how the surgery goes, and while his brain repairs itself, he's definitely going to find his IQ severely lowered. It could be years before he's fit for duty again."

"Tell me it's worth it," Lyle begged, leaning wearily against the wall. "Tell me that we're doing the right thing. I need to know that I'm not putting him through hell for my own benefit."

"You love him," the doctor said, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course you're doing this for your own benefit."

Lyle felt sick to his stomach. The doctor was right, of course, but Lyle didn't want to think like that. There was a chance that Brainy could make a full recovery, and he deserved that chance, didn't he? Lyle knew his friend, and Brainy wouldn't want to go out without a fight. At least, Lyle didn't think he would. But then again, was Brainy really capable of dealing with the aftermath of this?

Maybe that was why Brainiac 4 had insisted that he promise to stick with Brainy through this. She probably knew what Brainy could handle; or thought she did, anyway. Brainy was a lot stronger than people usually gave him credit for and Brainiac 4 didn't know her son at all. She had no clue how brave and determined Brainy was, or how Brainy never gave up on anything.

But what if, even though Brainy never gave up on fixing things or making something right, it would be easier for him to give up on himself? What if Brainy didn't see a point in trying to fix this? What if he didn't really know how much Lyle loved him?

"If I lose him, I've lost everything," he said out loud. "I have to try this. He's the universe to me, Dr. Gym'll, and he doesn't even have a clue."

The doctor nodded solemnly. "Sometimes it is necessary to be selfish, Invisible Kid."

Brainiac 4 approached them, apparently having gotten everything in order. "The space has been prepared. I would like to speak to my son before we begin."

"You'll scare him," Lyle objected immediately. "It won't do you any good, anyway. He doesn't remember things."

"Regardless of whether or not he remembers, I want my son's consent before this goes any further," Brainiac 4 insisted. "You do not understand how delicate this situation is, Lyle Norg. One misstep could leave the boy damaged for life. He has a right to make this decision himself."

The sick feeling grew and Lyle nodded reluctantly. She was right; they had no business doing this to Brainy without his express consent. But if Brainy realized that his mother was involved, it was going to freak him out and it would be hard to convince him to go along with it. What was the best way to go about this?

"Let me talk to him first," he said. "You know from his file that he can't see, so just don't say anything until I explain the situation to him. He's vulnerable right now and I don't know how he'll react to you being near him."

If it bothered Brainiac 4 that her son was terrified of her, she didn't show it. Despite the fact that she'd supposedly gained access to her emotions during the time she'd spent in Takron Galtos, she still seemed so closed off that Lyle wasn't sure if he believed her. She'd proved herself capable of faking emotion in the past, after all, and what if this was just another scheme of hers to try and murder Brainy again.

So Lyle paused at the doorway to Brainy's room and looked back at Brainiac 4. "If you hurt him, I swear I won't rest until I've made you pay for it."

"Noted," Brainiac 4 replied. "You needn't worry so much. If my plan was to cause him harm, I would have plenty of opportunity later on."

Lyle tensed up, wondering what to make of that statement. Maybe this was a bad idea. What if he was putting Brainy at risk by involving this woman? Well, Brainy would have the opportunity to call it off, at least. If Brainy couldn't make himself trust his mother, Lyle would respect his decision and send Brainiac 4 right back to Takron Galtos.

He touched Brainy's hand as he moved to adjust the medication. At this point, they were keeping Brainy pretty drugged up. It was easier than dealing with Brainy's memory lapses and it guaranteed that Brainy was in as little pain as possible. Lyle cut off the tranquilizer and waited for a moment before lightly tapping Brainy's cheek.

"Wake up, B," he murmured, shaking Brainy's shoulder. "Come on, wake up. There's someone here to see you."

Brainy stirred at last, groaning as he was pulled back into consciousness. His eyes opened but didn't focus. "Lyle, is that you?"

"Yep, it's me," Lyle replied. He grasped Querl's hand in his own and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Listen to me for a minute, okay? You're very sick. I know you don't remember, but we've had this conversation before. You're probably dying."

"What?" Brainy's voice quavered as he spoke. "Lyle, that's not funny."

Grife, why did this have to be so hard? Lyle felt terrible, having to break this news to Brainy all over again. The first time had been heartbreaking enough. "I know it's not funny, B. I wouldn't joke about something like this. You don't remember because you've been having severe memory lapses. Your brain is swelling and pressing against your implant, and it's causing damage. It has affected your eyesight and it has been causing you severe pain. But I think we can fix it."

"How?" Brainy asked. "Tell me how you can fix it."

Lyle hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Your mother is here. She thinks she can operate on your brain and fix all of this."

Silence answered him, but Lyle could see from the look on Brainy's face that he wasn't taking the news well. Brainy looked scared more than anything.

"Hey, it's up to you, okay?" he added. "I know you don't trust her and I don't blame you. If you don't want her here, I'll have her removed immediately, alright?"

"Is she in the room?" Brainy asked sharply.

Brainiac 4 spoke up in answer to her son's question. "I am here, Querl. If you are uncomfortable, I can leave at any time. However, I believe I may be able to help you and I must ask that you let me try. You have my word that I have only come here to help you. I have no ulterior motives."

"I don't trust you." Brainy's upper lip curled in distaste. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"You are dying," Brainiac 4 said. "You can risk trusting me and raise your chances of survival, or you can send me away. You'll be dead within days."

Glaring at the woman, Lyle squeezed Brainy's hand again. "I would keep trying to find a way, B. I wouldn't give up until there was absolutely nothing else I could do. Don't feel like you have to let her do this if you don't want to."

"Lyle." Brainy pressed his lips into a thin line. "I know she's dangerous, you don't have to tell me that. What I want to know is, do you really think she can help me?"

"… Yes," Lyle admitted reluctantly. "I think if she's being genuine, she's our best shot."

Nodding, Brainy said, "In that case, I'll agree to it. The worst that could happen is that she kills me, but I'm dying anyway."

"You should know that the recovery process will not be easy on you," Brainiac 4 said. "I will do my best, but it will be a long time before you fully regain your mental faculties and I cannot truly predict how much the surgery will affect your intellect. You will be vulnerable and it is likely that you won't remember making this decision when you wake up."

Brainy turned his head in the direction of his mother's voice. His hand gripped Lyle's a little tighter. "I understand the risks, but I have things to live for, Mother."

The woman stiffened, an expression of surprise flashing momentarily across her face. Then she softened, just a little. It was too bad Brainy couldn't see the way his mother looked now, because Lyle suspected it was something his friend had always wanted to see.

"Then you will live," said Brainiac 4 as if there was no chance she could fail. "Mr. Norg, prep him for surgery, if you will."

Lyle leaned down and kissed Brainy's cheek. "It's going to be okay, love. I'll take care of you."

* * *

Brainiac 4 stopped Lyle when he tried to leave the operating room, catching him with one surprisingly strong hand. "You stay here. You're the only person adept enough to assist me in this. Can you stomach the sight of your mate's blood?"

"I don't know," Lyle answered her truthfully. He felt nauseous just thinking about it and the last thing he ever wanted to see in this life was someone cutting open Brainy's skull. "I'll try to help if you need me here."

The woman grunted in approval and turned from him, examining the surgical tools she had been provided with. Lyle looked past her to his friend, lying unconscious on the operating table. Brainy's hair had all been shaved off in preparation for the surgery that Brainiac 4 would soon be performing on him. At least he looked peaceful and he would never know if this surgery failed. He'd die in his sleep.

He tried to stay calm throughout the procedure but when the first cut is made, Lyle's stomach churned uncomfortably. For a moment, he looked away, but then he had to look back and he had to force back the sick feeling. Brainy needed him now, needed him to be strong, so he swallowed the fear and uncertainty and he steeled himself.

"Don't die on me, Brainy," he whispered to his friend, and he ignored the look that Brainiac 4 shot him. It was none of her sprocking business. She had no business pretending like she cared about Brainy after what she'd done. If Brainy made it through this, maybe then Mrella Dox could be forgiven for her past transgressions, but never trusted.

He wondered faintly how long it would take Brainy to recover from his physical wounds as he watched Brainiac 4 remove each of the white plates that made up Brainy's upgrade. It occurred to him that a surgery like this would have left deep scars on Brainy's face as recently as 200 years ago, but the advances made in the medical field had all but eliminated permanent scarring. Brainy himself had contributed to expanding research on the subject of scars, though the bulk of the work had been finished before Brainy was even born. Cosmetics had always been of chief concern to most peoples in the universe.

Brainy's face would heal and leave no trace of the surgery or the implant that Brainiac 4 was removing – provided Brainy survived that long, of course.

By the time the surgery was finished, many hours after it was begun, both Lyle and Brainiac 4 were sweating heavily and Lyle was finding it hard to concentrate. As Brainiac 4 closed up, Lyle stripped off his rubber gloves, stained green with Brainy's blood, and slumped against the wall, trying to regulate his breathing.

If Brainy died now, Lyle would never forgive himself. They weren't in the clear yet. Until Brainy recovered enough to wake up, there was still a good chance something could go wrong and they would lose him. The thought was unbearable.

As she pulled off her own gloves and wiped her sweaty brow with her forearm, Brainiac 4 fixed Lyle with a fierce glare. "It's done, Lyle Norg. Take care of my son now that you've set things into motion. It will not be easy but if you abandon him, you will have me to answer to."

She left the operating room, seeming disgusted with herself and whole situation. Lyle remained where he was, leaning against the wall and wondering if he had really done the right thing.

TBC


End file.
